FO: Burda 9440 for Made Up Initiative

A few days a go I pledged to make a pair of trousers for Cassie as part of my donation to the Made Up Initiative and I'm pleased to say that they are done and boy are they cute!

I used Burda 9440 which includes shorts, trouser and cropped trousers to fit ages 2-7.  Cassie chose the full length trousers because she like the flowery fabric on the pattern envelope.  She had a little trouble understanding that hers would be different, but I was happy she chose the longer ones as Autumn starts to loom.  All in all there's not much to say about these, they're pretty simple kecks for a child and I'll be making a pair of these for the girls every time there's fabric left over from making trousers for me.  I did, however, learn a few lessons during the course of this project.

1. Trust your instincts.  Before I began I wasn't really sure why trousers for a 3 year old needed and elastic waist and a zip fly.  I went ahead and sewed the zip in (twice, Burda directions struck again!) and she can get them on and off without opening them no trouble.
2. Don't get cocky.  Just because you've sewn several waistbands on to fly fronted trousers doesn't mean you can completely ignore the directions.  There was a reason the waistband was so long and checking before chopping off the excess might have been a good idea.  Subsequently there was no room for a buttonhole but because these don't need to open a small snap did the trick. Phew.
3. When using a safety pin to guide elastic through a waistband channel it is generally good idea to remove it before sewing the channel shut!
   
4. Upon finishing a project for your child they will declare loudly that they don't like and cry while you try it on them.  Do not expect gratitude.
   

So that's that.  I can't wait to see what everyone else made.

Next!

After finishing the Snowbaby Hat and putting in a good few rows on baby's blanket it was time to choose a new main project. There are a few things I still want to make for baby, but I've realised that Cassie's need is greater. It's starting to her pretty chilly here and she's going to need warm clothes well before the baby arrives. So, keeping up with the colourwork theme I've cast on for a Scrap Sweater for Small Ones by Yarn Madness. This is the second Yarn Madness sweater I've cast on for Cassie, the first being the Morpheus which I had to rip back after I ran out of yarn earlier this year. I know I have enough yarn for this one, lets just hope it fits her when it's done. This pattern has loads of sizes so, if it turns out well I may just knock out another one for baby. I'm not really into matching outfits for my girls, but they don't actually have to wear them at the same time do they?

Oh and yes, that is yet more of the pink Debbie Bliss Merino DK, I swear that stuff has been breeding in my stash. I'll be using Cygnet Wool Rich Aran again too, for colours 2 and 3, but this time in dusky pink and brown giving the lilac a bit of a rest. Don't worry though, I have a plan for the last of that.

 

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WIP: Socks for Cassie

Seeing as how it's starting to get a bit chilly here and seeing as how Cassie seems to need an entire new wardrobe, I thought it would be good to knit her some socks. I've never knit socks for her before and I don't really have a go to pattern for toddler socks (any recommendations are gratefully received). I started to do a quick Ravelry search and then I remembered that my Mother-in-law had bought me a kiddies sock book a while back and that I hadn't tried any of the patterns yet. I'll be honest, it's not ideal, most of the patterns are DK and I much prefer 4ply for socks, but I thought I'd select a pattern anyway, they'll be a quick knit and perfect for indoors and to go under wellies when the weather really starts to turn.

The pattern I chose was Flower Power from Cute Knits for Baby Feet, there are no projects aside from mine on Ravelry so this is a picture of what they are supposed to look like.

I'm won't be bothering with the little flower, but I am sticking with the contrast heels and toes. I'm using the same yarn as the mittens I just made and after this I'll be using it again to knit myself a hat. I'm getting my money's worth out of that colour combo!

The first sock is done, from the time I got to the heel until the time I cast off I was not convinced that there would ever be a second sock. It looked too large, the heel was a mess and the toe not much better. However, I've sewn up the worst of the holes and tried it on Cassie and it fits so I will make the second one. If I ever knit it again I will be making some changes to the whole thing though. I'll save my thoughts on that for the FO post though.

 

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